Bunbury-born Cory Kous takes on two-year ride around Australia for men’s mental health

A Bunbury-born, Perth-based activist is riding and walking around Australia to raise awareness about men’s mental health.

Cory Kous began his journey more than a week ago, but plans to be travelling around Australia for at least 18 months to two years.

The journey began in Kwinana with Mr Kous arriving in the South West this week and he is now in Bunbury before he follows the coast to Busselton and Margaret River then plans to cross the Nullarbor.

Mr Kous said the inspiration to complete a lap around Australia riding for men’s mental health came from his own struggles.

“I was going through some mental health problems of my own and just talking with my mates and actually speaking to people helped me out,” he said.

“I want to help out other men to do the same thing. Men don’t like talking about problems they have, it’s very hard for us.”

Despite being on the road for only a little more than a week, Mr Kous said he had already had affirming conversations.

“I’ve had someone pull over at the rest stop where I stayed and he came and had a chat about his mental health,” Mr Kous said.

“We had a little talk which was good. I’ve had another couple of people ring me up just to have chats to talk about their problems.”

Mr Kous said he had always wanted to travel around Australia and decided it would make his journey more meaningful to push for men to speak up during his travels.

He hopes completing National Highway One — a big lap that goes all the way around Australia — will do just that.

“I’ve always wanted to help people, and wanted to see what I could do to help some men who are having hard times,” he said.

“I have a support driver who is following me the whole way. He’s been my best mate for about seven or eight years now.

“He thinks it’s a good idea because he’s recently gone through some problems of his own. Me getting him out to come and help me is helping him out a lot.

“I’ve got my sister who lives over east, and my nanna who lives in Adelaide. I’ve got people who are ready to let me stay at their house all over the country.”

Mr Kous has started a GoFundMe to cover the costs of the journey, with excess money to be donated to charity.

Daily videos and live moments are shared on his TikTok account, named corysrideformen.